Why burnt out Maia Wilson stepped away from Silver Ferns and moved to a new ANZ Premiership team

Sunday, 8 March 2026

Up at 4.30am for her breakfast radio shift, then netball training later in the morning, is Maia Wilson’s new normal.

With ANZ Premiership domestic netballers dealing with 20% pay cuts this season after a substantial drop in broadcasting revenue, part-time work is a reality.

These are interesting times for 52-cap Silver Fern Wilson, who has made the crosstown move across Auckland to the Mystics following nine seasons with the Stars.

For the first time too, Wilson is without a Silver Ferns national contract after making herself unavailable for higher honours last year. Wilson’s decision to take her name out of the selection mix had nothing to do with the dramas engulfing New Zealand netball amid the Dame Noeline Taurua coaching saga, rather burn out after a decade in the professional ranks.

“I think for me it felt like I was on this little hamster wheel and it was going so fast and there was never ever time to stop…This whole reset felt like it’s more than the game. It’s about myself personally and where to next,” she said.

Since September Wilson has been in the media game, working as a producer for Sport Nation, as well as on-air announcing on Mai FM.

The experienced shooter typically works two to three days a week in radio with the majority of hours coming on her two scheduled player day-off’s. Some days she is forced to juggle broadcasting demands with netball duties, which was gruelling.

“Sometimes I’m working a breakfast radio shift where I’m in at 4.30, then I’m out of there by 10, but I’m on court at 11.30. Just the demands of that I’m feeling it and the privilege I had is like, ‘Man, I took it for granted’.

“The ability to be a fulltime athlete and this whole change of lifestyle and career shift for me has meant it really shows you what the stalwarts of the game and those who laid the foundations, who were only getting a petrol voucher every now and then 20 years ago. We’ve shifted so far, but there is such a way to go.”

Wilson felt for the younger members in ANZ Premiership squads at the bottom of the contracting order, who were studying and flatting, combined with netball. Under the 20% reduction, ANZ Premiership retainers now range from $20,800 to a maximum payment of $44,800.

“During the season I still have to work personally to keep a roof over my head. I’ll at least be going in [to radio] on those two player days off and maybe a day during the season.”

While balancing elite netball and outside employment was not easy, Wilson relished the way it had given her purpose away from the sport, something she had battled to find.

After bursting on the top-level scene with the Central Pulse in 2016 in the former trans-Tasman league as an 18-year-old, netball fans have grown up with Wilson.

For many years she admitted her identity was attached to netball. Sometimes her mood away from the game was dictated by how she was performing on-court. When she was missing goals or the team was struggling, Wilson was hard on herself mentally.

“I think it was for the first time in my whole career I took time out for me and really wanted to know who Maia was off the court and how I could add purpose and to know there’s more to life than just netball.”

Entering a different world in radio and needing to learn new skills had been empowering and given her a fresh perspective on netball. Having friends and colleagues who she knew at MediaWorks had made the switch easier.

“I’m not retiring any time soon, but I wanted to give myself the best opportunities for when I’m ready to retire, whenever that day may be. I’m confident in the transition and I feel like where I’m at, at the moment playing for Mystics and also working in radio, I’m finding a lot more purpose in myself, which means I’m able to come to training as a better athlete and person.”

Crosstown move

Wearing Mystics blue this season after nine years with the south Auckland based Stars will take some getting used to for netball fans and Wilson alike. She was a start-up member of the Stars in 2017 and the team meant the world to her.

While it appeared, at least publicly, the Stars’ off-season signings of Silver Ferns Amelia Walmsley and Martina Salmon, might have forced Wilson out, she said it was simply time for a reset.

Wilson knew even early last season she needed to move to a new team. The Stars would always have a special place in her heart, playing in three finals with the side.

“I think last year was probably, not just on the court, but off the court, was probably one of the most tumultuous times personally in both the netball sense and me in myself. I was definitely burnt out and that burn out probably contributed to a lot of what was going on maybe in terms of my contribution to the team…

“I think I lost a lot of enjoyment in the game and the role in which I took at Stars was heavily off-court and the demands of that.”

By her own high standards, Wilson had a disappointing season. Regarded as a 90-plus % shooter she converted 83% of her overall attempts and 88% from one-point range. The Stars found the going tough with injuries, finishing rock bottom with one win from 10 matches.

As fate would have it, Wilson will go up against her old side at their Pulman Arena home in Takanini in the Mystics’ season opener on April 12.

Wilson, who has never ventured into the opposition changing room on game-day at Pulman, acknowledged it would be a weird feeling.

She was relishing her time with the Mystics, who have plenty to prove themselves after the top qualifiers came up short at home in last year’s final to the Tactix. Working with Mystics head coach Tia Winikerei and Australian assistant Rob Wright had already been valuable for Wilson, relishing a change in environment and different coaching voices.

Silver Ferns future

Wilson finds herself on the outer of the Silver Ferns. With Grace Nweke ensconced as the Ferns’ No.1 goal shoot and probably the best in her position globally, court time is limited for others. The Ferns also have several talented shooting options in Walmsley, Salmon, Georgia Heffernan and up-and-comers Saviour Tui and Filda Vui.

Her last appearance for the Ferns was in October 2024 in Melbourne, where the side lifted the Constellation Cup, beating Australia 3-1 in the series.

Wilson tried her hand at goal attack for the Stars and Ferns in an attempt to get more opportunities internationally alongside Nweke, but success was mixed.

A goal shoot throughout her career, the position was clearly where Wilson was most comfortable and had thrived. While goal shoot was her preference, Wilson was open to what the Mystics coaching staff wanted and her team required.

“For me, I know where I’m best and my roots are in goal shoot and I think for the enjoyment of myself personally I assume a lot of it will be at goal shoot, but we’ll just see where things head.”

Despite making herself unavailable for the Silver Ferns last year, Wilson had not shut the door on future selection, or the possibility of the Commonwealth Games later this year.

When Wilson is dialled in and playing with confidence, there are few goal shoots in world netball who can be as deadly. That was evident in the 2021 Constellation Cup, where Wilson played all 240 minutes in the series and was pivotal in leading New Zealand to a rare series win over Australia, shooting 87% over the four matches. Nweke emerged as the Ferns’ top goal shoot at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and from then on has had a monopoly on the position.

“I’m not saying no [to international netball], that’s definitely for sure. I think for me the priority coming into the season was I want to find enjoyment in the game and I want to enjoy it with the people I’m next to. I’ve grown up playing against the majority of my team-mates in the Mystics. I’ve just never been in a team with them.

“I’m here to win an ANZ Premiership. I’ve been in three finals and lost all three and I feel like I’m in probably the best environment I can be to make that happen.”